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Andrew Heaney walked off a mound at the Angels' spring training complex, met briefly with pitching coach Mike Butcher and then beelined toward the batting cage and exchanged fist bumps with hitters Albert Pujols, David Freese, Erick Aybar and others. Heaney, a 23-year-old left-hander, had just thrown a batting practice session and he wanted to thank the players. "They probably don't want to be standing in there facing the prospect of getting hit or whatever," Heaney said. "They're just trying to see some pitches." When the Angels begin playing spring training games Thursday, Manager Mike Scioscia and General Manager Jerry Dipoto will be taking a...

The Angels traded for Matt Joyce in the off-season, identifying the seven-year veteran as a reliable designated hitter and left-handed bat who could provide outfield depth.
Depth became a pressing issue two months after the December trade when outfielder...

The seventh-inning relief role held by Kevin Jepsen last season is up for grabs, and Angels right-hander Mike Morin plans to seize it.
"Once Jeppy got traded to Tampa Bay," Morin said before Monday's workout, "that was my goal."
...

Washington had the best record in the National League and was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs last season. The team's go-for-it off-season response was to sign ace Max Scherzer for seven years and $210 million.
The Angels had the best...

The Angels agreed to terms with the last of their nine arbitration-eligible players on Monday, securing outfielder-designated hitter Matt Joyce to a $4.75-million deal that was $50,000 above the midpoint of the figures the sides exchanged.
Joyce, 30, who...

The Angels' minor league system looked barren even before last July's trades that sent five of their top 10 prospects to San Diego and Arizona for closer Huston Street and reliever Joe Thatcher.
The loss of first-round picks in 2012 and 2013 — a cost...

The Angels might have netted their third baseman of the future on Thursday when they acquired Kyle Kubitza and reliever Nate Hyatt from the Atlanta Braves for top pitching prospect Ricardo Sanchez, a 17-year-old left-hander from Venezuela.
With current...

The Angels acquired Matt Joyce from the Tampa Bay Rays for veteran reliever Kevin Jepsen on Tuesday, a trade that gives them a primary designated hitter, a left-handed bat to balance a predominantly right-handed lineup, some corner outfield depth and a...

To many Angels fans, General Manager Jerry Dipoto is like the boy who cried wolf. Whatever Dipoto says, especially this time of year, they tend to believe the opposite.
Asked about free-agent Albert Pujols in November of 2011, Dipoto said the slugger was...

The Angels tendered a 2015 contract to David Freese on Tuesday, assuring that the veteran third baseman, who is projected to make $6.3 million in arbitration next season, remains under club control.
The team declined to tender 2015 contacts to utility...

The Angels are expected to tender David Freese a 2015 contract before Tuesday’s 9 p.m. PST deadline, a move that would put the veteran third baseman in line for a salary of about $6.3 million in arbitration next season.
The team is not expected to make a...

The Angels wasted no time making two of their easiest decisions of the off-season Thursday, exercising closer Huston Street’s $7-million option for 2015 and declining a $4.5-million option on injured reliever Sean Burnett.
Street, acquired from the San...

The Angels rallied in the wake of a season-ending injury to their best pitcher, Garrett Richards, in August and got so hot they turned a four-game American League West deficit on Aug.10 into a runaway division title.
They toiled through a six-month...

The Angels will be making their seventh appearance in the American League Division Series, and it will be the first time they won't be playing either Boston or New York. A look at their previous six ALDS matchups:
2002
Angels 3, New York Yankees 1
...

It first struck Tim Salmon in early July, when the Angels steamrollered the Texas Rangers in a four-game sweep. It became more apparent July 18, when the Angels traded for proven closer Huston Street, turning a much-improved bullpen into a dominant...

The Angels opted for right-hander Vinnie Pestano over left-hander Joe Thatcher in the bullpen and contact-hitting Efren Navarro over power-hitting Brennan Boesch on the bench for their American League division series against the Kansas City Royals.
Final...

Don’t be surprised if the World Series is decided by a whisker. Or, more accurately, whiskers.
According to research from STATS Inc., the team with the higher percentage of facial hair has won each of the last four World Series. And that could be good...

The happiest place on Earth on Thursday night was supposed to be just a mile or so down the street from the Happiest Place on Earth. The best fireworks were going to be at the Big A.
That's because the Angels, with the best record in baseball, were at...

Kansas City Royals Manager Ned Yost yielded the hot seat to Angels Manager Mike Scioscia on Thursday night.
While Yost pulled all the right strings in a battle of bullpens, it was Scioscia who left himself open to some second-guessing, first with three...

The late-night cardiac kids were back at it Friday night at Angel Stadium, and we certainly aren't talking about the Angels.
The Kansas City Royals did it again. This time, it was a two-run homer by first baseman Eric Hosmer. It came in the 11th inning...